Rice Service Council

The Rice Service Council was established in the spring of 2009 by a group of students who, in partnership with the Community Involvement Center, wanted to foster a collaborative network to support Rice University student service organizations.  Comprised of 12 to 15 students appointed for one calendar year, the Rice Service Council organizes programming to build leadership development and volunteer recognition activities though four initiatives:

1. Create a forum in which student service organization leaders can learn, share, and benefit from each other;
2. Coordinate a campus-wide annual Volunteer Appreciation Banquet;
3. Provide on-going leadership development, including coordinating the fall Volunteer Leadership Retreat; and
4. Advertise and advise on the awarding of the Community Service Grant, Spirit of Service Awards, and various awards and scholarships administered by the Community Involvement Center.

Connection to Rice Service Organizations

To facilitate collaboration between Rice service organizations, each elected member is connected to 3-5 service organizations, to which they will communicate service agendas, objectives, and organizational needs and exchange resources.  This information will enable the Council to establish a campus-wide service calendar that will not only limit the number of overlapping programs, but will also encourage organizations to schedule programming that is in support of each other.  For a complete list of the Council Representatives for the current calendar year, see the table below.

Committees

In addition to the general responsibilities of the Rice Service Council, each member is assigned a committee with which they meet twice per month to plan and implement the goals of the sub-committee. The committees are as follows:

• Leadership Development – plans and implements the fall Volunteer Leadership Retreat to occur annually in early September, as well as other volunteer leadership development initiatives.
• Grants, Scholarships & Awards – assists with the awarding of the Community Service Grant and the Hilda and Hershel Rich Family Endowment for Student Community Service and making funding decisions that adhere to the goals and guidelines of the grant. In addition, the committee assists with advertising the various Rice University scholarships & awards that relate to service and act as a representative of the Council during the selection process.
• Volunteer Recognition – coordinates the annual all-campus Volunteer Recognition Event and oversees the advertising and awarding of the Spirit of Service Awards.

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 Committee Structure and Application Process

Rice Service Council members are appointed for an entire calendar year (January - December) and meet monthly (1st Tuesday of every month at 5:00pm). These members are made up of at least four students per undergraduate year and up to two graduate students, with freshmen joining the Council in January as graduating seniors step down at the end of their term. An application for unfilled Rice Service Council membership spots, including for the four freshmen, will be made available late October.

1. Follow these instructions to join as a member of the OWL-Space collaborative site:
   1. Go to OWL-Space (https://owlspace-ccm.rice.edu).
   2. Click on "LOG-IN using NetID" and enter your credentials.
      
   3. Click on the "Membership" tab in the left margin.
      
   4. Click on the "Joinable Sites" link next to "My Current Sites" header.
      
   5. Under the "Worksite" list, find the title "Rice Service Council" and click on the link "Join" located just below it.
      
   6. Click on the newly formed tab (Rice Service Council), located next to the "My Workspace" tab at the top of the page.
      
      
2. Once you have been added as a member, you will have access to the "Rice Service Council Application," which is under the "Tests & Quizzes" tab on the left sidebar. You may save your progress at any time during the application process and return to complete it any time before the deadline.
   
   
3. Complete the application by the deadline of 5:00pm on Monday, November 9, 2009.

Please address any questions regarding the Rice Service Council to Kelsey Lau, Council Chair, by email (kelsey.s.lau@rice.edu) or Sarah Hodgkinson, Assistant Director of the Community Involvement Center, by e-mail (sarah.hodgkinson@rice.edu) or phone (713-348-6409).

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Rice Service Council Representatives for Rice Service Organizations

Service Organization	RSC Representative	E-mail Address
ADVANCE	Rachel Mercer-Smith	rmm3@rice.edu
American Red Cross of Rice University	Laura Anne Van Buren	lav1@rice.edu
Amnesty International	Darren Arquero	darquero@rice.edu
CDF Shout	Laura Anne Van Buren	lav1@rice.edu
Colleges Against Cancer	Enstin Ye	esy1@rice.edu
Egyptian Queens	Brianna Mulrooney	bfm1@rice.edu
Engineers Without Borders	Kavita Venkateswar	kjv2@rice.edu
Environmental Club	Kelsey Lau	klau@rice.edu
Humanitarian Medical Outreach	Mallory Botsford	mab6@rice.edu
Microfinance	Mallory Botsford	mab6@rice.edu
PAIR (Partnership for the Advancement and Immersion of Refugees)	Siya Mehtani	siyasiya@rice.edu
RPMS (Rice Pre-Medical Society)	Ellen Bransford	esb1@rice.edu
REACH (Rice Engaged in Area Children's Hospitals)	Ellen Bransford	esb1@rice.edu
Sewa International	Sherry Wang	smw1@rice.edu
Sierra Student Coalition	Kelsey Lau	klau@rice.edu
SEEK (Student Engineers Educating Kids)	Kavita Venkateswar	kjv2@rice.edu
Rice Women's Resource Center	Rachel Mercer-Smith	rmm3@rice.edu
Rice ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)	Darren Arquero	darquero@rice.edu
Best Buddies	Laura Zhang	mz4@rice.edu
ESL Tutoring	Enstin Ye	esy1@rice.edu
Habitat	Sherry Wang	smw1@rice.edu
Humane Society	Laura Zhang	mz4@rice.edu
One-on-One Tutoring	Siya Mehtani	siyasiya@rice.edu
RSVP	Brianna Mulrooney	bfm1@rice.edu
WARM	Siya Mehtani	siyasiya@rice.edu

Community Involvement Center6100 Main MS-200, Houston, Texas 77005-1827       Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1892, MS-200, Houston, Texas 77251-1892

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